Christopher Logue's War Music

War Music by Christopher Logue appeared in my recommendations as a free translation of Homer's Iliad, and it sounds quite appealing. However, I am a bit confused by its fragmentary character, the whole thing apparently having been published over several books. Is there a good edition for getting the whole thing in one piece?

If I correctly, it was originally broadcast on radio, so I wouldn't expect it to be a verse-for-verse recasting.

Hang on, I'm looking into this. I sort of collect retellings of Homer...

Logue never finished versions of all 24 books of the Iliad, so you won't find anything that includes the complete story.

I think the work you linked to (containing Logue's versions of books 1-4 and 16-19) is the most complete one. I know that "Kings," "Husbands" and an earlier edition (also entitled "War Music" are included in the 1997 edition. "Patrocleia" and "Pax" (books 16 and 19) must be as well.

I'm not sure about the other two ("All Day Permanent Red" and "Cold Calls"); they seem to be later than "War Music."

Well, Omeros just arrived (just getting into the Homerian retellings ...), so I am not in a hurry - if you find any more information, I'd very much appreciate it! Mostly, I want to avoid buying multiple copies of the same text, so I'd also be fine with a clear "these are volumes 1-5" in separate books.

The series page seems pretty clear and accurate, actually. If you follow the listing there you should be safe.

Oh, and Walcott is great! His "Omeros" bears about as much superficial resemblance to the story of either the Odyssey or the Iliad as Joyce's "Ulysses" does, i.e., not much. But he's an incredibly skilled poet.

Thanks for pointing out the series page! I looked at that briefly but must have overlooked the "order" column. Things are much clearer now.

It's well worth reading Logue's Guardian obit for some background to his Homeric poetry:

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/dec/03/christopher-logue

There is a single volume collected edition slated for publication soonish, to include bits unpublished elsewhere. The US title is "Logue's Homer".

I've studied and taught both Homer poems (but only in English). If you like poetry and language, then I really encourage you to get hold of Logue. What he does is worth savouring.

Having seen this thread pop up I read the following article in the London Times today - I get a paper copy but a subscription only review is at
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/arts/books/fiction/article4616476.ece
A new version may have been published by Faber - see http://www.faber.co.uk/9780571202188-war-music.html